Tips & Tricks

Anything goes in this section - slowing down the zoom speed so students can see where they're going, historical imagery, increasing the cache size, the flight simulator, tilting into an oblique view - anything!

(needs something on using 3D layer - cache, making video, etc.)

1. Slow down!

By default, Google Earth zooms out of one location and into another very quickly. By slowing it down learners get a better sense of locations. It also gives you more time to discuss what's going on!

Go to Preferences / Navigation and then move the Fly-To Speed slider all the way to the left:

2. Go back in time

Google Earth's Historical imagery function is not only of use to History teachers! The 1930's view of the earth is much more aesthetically-pleasing - especially if you turn off Borders and Labels in the Layers section:

3. Smoother zooming

If your internet connection is fairly slow or intermittent, or if the machine you're using isn't the fastest, it's a good idea to increase the cache size of stored imagery. This means that more of your memory and/or hard disk space will be used but means smoother zooming and faster loading of layers (including 3D buildings!)

Go to Preferences / Cache to do this. Most of the time you can easily double the default values:

4. Flight Simulator

Previously a hidden 'Easter egg' feature of Google Earth, Flight Simulator is now a feature! Go to Tools / Enter Flight Simulator and then choose your aircraft and starting position.